Re: Using Org for a dissertation

[Richard Lawrence <richard.lawrence@berkeley.edu>]

Thomas S. Dye <tsd@tsdye.com> wrote:

> The current Org-mode LaTeX exporter is nifty, but it was designed to
> export notes and not dissertations.  It can be configured to do that,
> but the extra translation step adds some complexity and potentially
> introduces problems.  In my work this potential downside is more than
> made up for by the reproducible research facilities of Org-mode.  When I
> don't need these, I typically write in LaTeX.  The AucTeX environment is
> a terrific help to the author of a LaTeX document and in many ways it is
> ideal for a dissertation writer.

Thanks for your advice.  This has been my experience so far as well.

> That said, the new LaTeX exporter in Org-mode is being designed to
> overcome some of the limitations of the old exporter, so it will
> probably be the case that the translation step from Org-mode to LaTeX
> will get easier.  It would be good to have someone write a dissertation
> using the new exporter because it might stretch the exporter in ways
> that smaller, simpler documents do not.  But I doubt if this will be the
> path of least resistance to the finished dissertation.  

I have seen mention of the new exporter on this list a bit, but I don't
read the list enough to know where to find it.  How can I try it, if I
want to see how it compares to the current exporter?  Is it in a public
branch somewhere?  Would feedback from me be helpful?

> I'm using ebib to manage BibTeX data now and I really like it.  It works
> well with both LaTeX and Org-mode, so I don't have to switch gears
> completely to move from one authoring environment to the other.

Hmm, I hadn't heard of ebib, but I will have a look at it.  Thanks for
the tip!

Best,
Richard